Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (200?)

Plot:  A young boy wins a trip to the Willy Wonka Chocalate Factory. Based on the Roald Dahl novel.

News:

15 October, 2001

It looks like a new director is on board for this remake. Gary Ross had long been associated with the project but he left it earlier this year. Now Gary Minkoff (Stuart Little) has taken over the director's chair. He should begin contract negotiations shortly, after which actors will be pursued.

1 February, 2001

Journalistic Integrity? What's That?

The NY Post continued to prove that it is a bastion of respectability and journalistic integrity by publishing pretty much any nonsense that some celebrity spouts. This week they reported that shock rocker Marilyn Manson had stated that he had been cast in the role of Willy Wonka in Warner Bros. remake of the Roald Dahl book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Now anyone with more than two or three active brain cells roaming about in their skull could see that this was obviously nonsense. Undeterred by such negative thinking however, the Post printed a long story with quotes from Manson like "I really see the movie as a metaphor. I see Willy Wonka as Satan because he presents people with the temptation of picking good and evil, and they all pick evil." Not satisfied with that little bit of fiction, the Post goes on to say that Tim Burton would direct the movie.

So what does Warner Bros. have to say on the matter? In a press release the studio states:

Contrary to a false and misleading report published in the Jan. 31 edition of the New York Post, singer Marilyn Manson has not been cast in a role in the upcoming Warner Bros. Pictures film 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.'

Additionally, the director of the project is not Tim Burton, as falsely stated in the Post. Gary Ross ("Pleasantville," "Dave," "Big") is directing the film, currently in development at the Studio, from a screenplay by Scott Frank ("Out of Sight"), which he is adapting from the beloved Roald Dahl novel.

Neither Gary Ross nor Warner Bros. Pictures have any intention whatsoever of casting Marilyn Manson in the revered role of 'Willy Wonka' or any other role in the film.

Warner Bros. Pictures has requested that the New York Post issue a retraction of this erroneous story immediately.

13 July, 1999

In case you were wondering why on Earth we needed a remake of this movie, writer Scott Frank has his answer. Frank gives his reasons in an interview with Fade In: Magazine.

"I don't love the original (film), because it's not the book. I love the book, and I feel the tone of the book is different from the tone of Willy Wonka. And I want to make a movie about the kid, not about Willy Wonka. Roald Dahl is one of the reasons I'm a writer and that book in particular is what introduced me to narrative. ...

"I don't love it (the original film) the way everyone loves it. It didn't affect me. I was let down because I loved the book so much. I suppose if I'd seen the movie without being so in love with the book, it might have had a different effect. But it was made real for me in a way that was so disappointing. I'm not saying it's a bad movie; I just don't love the movie. And I know a lot of people do, so I feel like there's another version of that. And it's not a musical -- no one's going to sing 'The Candy Man', you know what I mean?"

9 March, 1999

AICN had an article today about this remake. The role of Willy Wonka hasn't yet been filled but the names mentioned are Nicolas Cage (what movie isn't he up for?), Will Smith, and Robin Williams. The original children will reportedly be approached for roles as parents in the remake. This is going to be a darker film, more faithful to Dahl's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I just shudder at this whole concept.

5 February, 1999

It's true. Warner Bros. is intent on remaking the 1971 classic movie. Scott Frank, who wrote Out of Sight, will write the script, due in the summer. "Warner Bros. has always looked at 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' as a classic, and we're delighted that (Roald Dahl's widow) Liccy Dahl has joined us in bringing this ageless story to the screen," said president of WB worldwide theatrical production Lorenzo di Bonaventura. Did he miss the fact that they already did bring it the big screen? Apparently, Dahl's widow thought the original movie didn't capture the spirit of her husband's book.

22 January, 1999

No I don't think it's a bad movie... yet. Columnist Liz Smith has reported that Nicholas Cage may be set to star in a remake of the classic Roald Dahl film. Michael Caton Jones (Rob Roy, The Jackal) would be the likely director of the Warner Bros film. What the hell are they thinking?! Didn't Hollywood learn anything from the remake of Psycho? It pulled in less than $21 million at the box office, not even enough to cover it's rather small production costs. Listen hard Hollywood, some movies don't need to be remade. Take a chance on something new for a change.